Corpus Christi Workers' Compensation Lawyers

There are many different reasons why workplace injuries may occur. These types of injuries can cause a great deal of difficulty for a person, especially if they will need to receive medical treatment or are unable to work while they are recovering. Fortunately, injured workers will often qualify for workers' compensation benefits that will help them provide for their needs during their recovery, while also ensuring that any disabilities they have experienced will be addressed properly.

Following a work injury, a person will need to understand whether they can receive workers' comp benefits or whether other forms of compensation may be available. At The Edwards Law Firm, we help injured workers and their families file workers' compensation claims or respond to the denial of benefits, ensuring that they will have the financial resources they need as they recover from their injuries. We also help injury victims determine how to proceed in cases where an employer is a non-subscriber who does not have workers' compensation insurance, and we can help pursue personal injury lawsuits against any third parties who may have been liable for an accident or injury.

Receiving Workers' Compensation Benefits

A person may qualify for workers' comp if they are injured in an accident in the workplace, experience health issues that occurred because of the work they have performed, contract an occupational illness, or have a pre-existing condition that becomes worse because due to a workplace injury. It is important to understand that workers' compensation is a "no-fault" system, meaning that employees can qualify for benefits whether they, their employer, or anyone else was responsible for a work-related injury.

Workers' compensation may provide a person with the following types of benefits:

• Medical benefits - All of the reasonable and necessary medical care that is needed to treat a person's injuries or their related health conditions will be fully covered by workers' comp. An employer's workers' compensation insurer will be billed for this treatment. While a person can choose their own doctor, they may be required to use a doctor that is in an insurer's healthcare network, or they may need to receive approval to change doctors or see a doctor that is outside of the network.
• Income benefits - If a work injury results in a disability that affects a person's ability to return to work, they may receive benefits that address their loss of income. These are also known as disability benefits, and they may include:
  
  • Temporary income benefits that address the difference between what a person earned before being injured and what they are able to earn while they are recovering from their injuries.
  • Impairment income benefits that address permanent disabilities. These benefits will provide a certain number of weeks of pay depending on the percentage of loss to a person's body as a whole.
  • Supplemental income benefits that may address ongoing disabilities that affect a person after they are no longer eligible to receive impairment income benefits.
  • Lifetime income benefits that address serious, permanent impairments, such as blindness, amputation of both hands or both feet, burn injuries that cover at least 40 percent of the body, or spinal cord injuries that result in paralysis of multiple limbs.
• Death benefits - The dependents of a person who was killed in a workplace injury may receive benefits that cover a portion of the income the person would have earned and used to provide for their family's needs.